Gold Rush
by hipster
Summary: Six months on from 5.5. and Harry runs off to Paris for the weekend.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Gold Rush

On his way home from the office that evening Harry asked the driver to drop him at his corner shop. It was Wednesday and the only men's magazine he ever read came out on Wednesdays. Apart from picking that up he also wanted to buy a few things before heading home, and he didn't feel like going to the local supermarket.

"Goodnight," he murmured to the driver and headed through the door narrowly avoiding bumping into a couple of boys who came out with their hands full of sweets.

The owner of the shop, Ali, was behind the counter, and Harry nodded to him before beginning to collect the things he needed. It didn't take him long, and soon he was standing in front of Ali talking to him while the latter rung up Harry's things and packed them in a bag.

"I've put a copy of your magazine aside for you as usual," Ali said.

"Thanks, just ring it up and put it in the bag," Harry answered and smiled. Ali did as requested and handed Harry the bag. Harry thanked him and head for the exit.

Once home Harry unpacked his shopping and placed everything in the right place. When he got to the bottom of the bag he picked up this week's magazine and looked at the cover. As he started flickering through it something fell out and landed on the floor. He absentmindedly bent down and picked it up expecting it to be one of the lengthy commercial inserts they always seemed to fill the magazines with. He was puzzled, though, because the cover page looked very different from the normal inserts. Across the top was written 'Pariscope' and it was a title he'd seen before many years ago. Something stirred inside Harry's head. Pariscope was the French capital's equivalent of London's Time Out; a weekly with listings of everything happening within film, art and culture. This particular copy was for the week starting today. Harry's instincts were awoken immediately. Could this be a coincidence, or…

The one word that came to him was the one word he'd hardly said out loud in six months: "Ruth". In his more private moments when he'd taken some time to ponder over where she'd have ended up, Paris was one of the places he always short-listed. He anxiously opened the copy and started flipping through it. Partly expecting a note to slip out, partly being scared a note would show, because what if it wasn't from Ruth? What if it was work-related or what if there wasn't anything for him inside the copy?

Harry kept going through the magazine, but he couldn't find anything; not even a post-it note or an underlined paragraph. His heart sank. He looked up and stared at the wall opposite him. Was he loosing his mind? He, a forty-something professional trusted with the responsibility of keeping the British public safe, was frantically clinging to a hope that shouldn't exist. He hoped to see Ruth again. It was a hope he'd never voiced to anybody, but it was nevertheless present in his consciousness most hours of the day.

He stepped back mentally for a moment and thought the situation over like he was used to doing professionally. The French weekly had been handed to him by Ali on a Wednesday night wrapped up in another magazine. Was this a coincidence? No, he thought to himself; Ali knew he always stopped by on Wednesday on his way home from the office to pick up his mag and a few amenities.

And who knew about Ali passing on information and items to Harry? Well, Adam did for one, but Harry, couldn't see why his deputy would want to send him this. Zaf, Jo and Ros didn't know about Ali. However, Malcolm did, but again Harry couldn't imagine why Malcolm would pass this on to him via Ali. He might as well have given it to him today in the office. The last person to know, who was still alive, was Ruth. A very pleasant sensation ran through his body as he allowed himself to think about her. Could this be from her? He continued his mental game and concluded that of all the candidates Ruth was the most likely to have made Ali slip him the mag. The more he thought of it, the more it had Ruth's hallmark on it. But why, then, couldn't he find any message for him on the pages?

He went through the publication again without any luck. He even went to the far back and checked the personal ads; something he'd never have done in his life before. After about ten minutes of skimming he decided that there was nothing in the personals meant for him. His looked up and stared out of the window with a sad look in his eyes.

Harry turned his attention to the food he'd been thinking about preparing for himself. He'd suddenly lost his appetite and all he could think of was what to do with that bloody French periodical sitting on his table. He decided to just eat some buttered toast; something he hadn't done in a long time.

He'd actually taken to eating very healthy food the last few months, and he'd started going to

the gym for the first time in years. He used to go regularly when he was younger, but desk work demanded so much of his time that he'd stopped doing it a few years ago. However, in the weeks following his goodbye to Ruth, he'd first started drinking heavily in the evenings, and then done a u-turn and picked himself up.

His yearly medical was as much to blame as anything. He'd gone some three weeks after Ruth had left and all the important figures had been wrong; he was slightly overweight, had high blood pressure and he seemed to remember that the doctor had pointed his attention towards his cholesterol as well. He'd seen it coming, though, with the evenings leading up to the examination having been spent in his local, sulking and looking and feeling miserable.

So when the doctor started talking about medication, Harry looked up and asked if the doctor would advise him to try and get in shape, eat better and cut down on the drinking rather than eat pills. The doctor had looked genuinely surprised, but had then started smiling and referred Harry to a therapist who'd help him with putting together both a diet and a training schedule. And so Harry was now fitter, slimmer and feeling a lot better than he had in years.

And buttered toast was not part of the devised diet, but sometimes you have to give in, Harry thought to himself. He positioned himself at the table in the sitting room and started eating the toast while flipping through the magazine again. And then he saw it. A bent corner on one of the pages. He immediately opened the page and looked at it. The page was part of the cinema section and read 'Horaires & Salles'. It contained listings for the week to come. He started going through them and his persistency was rewarded after a few minutes when his eyes fell upon

Gold Rush

**VO** Vendredi 22h.

Cinéma du Monde  
42, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle

75010 - Paris

Harry's stomach turned and he didn't know what to do. Most of all he felt like jumping in the air and shouting. Instead he clapped his dog on the head and afterwards covered his face with his hands. Surely this was a message to him from Ruth. He recalled their conversation on the roof when he'd first asked her out for dinner. She'd told him she thought he was being presumptuous, because he had booked a table, before she'd accepted his dinner invitation.

He'd been, and still was, very pleased with the answer he'd come up with back then. He'd replied that he'd go anyway and sit and wait for the girl, making the bread rolls dance like a Charlie Chaplin character. She'd laughed and looked very happy they were having the conversation, and he had in return asked her which film the scene was from. As he had predicted, she knew which one and her answer, which she'd now repeated to him in a rather more hidden manner, was 'Gold Rush'.

He carefully examined the corner of the page, but there was no mistake to be made; it had been bent deliberately. He felt relieved, happy and confused all at once. Today was Wednesday. Did he have any plans for the weekend? No! He smiled to himself, got up from the table and turned on the laptop in the corner. He hardly ever used it, because he spent so much time at work, but when he was home it was nice to be able to access the web.


	2. Chapter 2

He went straight to Eurostar's website and booked a ticket leaving Friday at five pm and arriving at nine pm local time. He'd have to find a plausible excuse to leave work early, he reminded himself. He couldn't decide when to return, as he had no idea what awaited him in Paris, so he booked an open return. He checked the schedule and was pleased to learn that they offered departures everyday more or less around the clock.

He looked up the location of the cinema and was happy to see that it was in close proximity of Gare du Nord where he'd be arriving with only an hour to spare before the film started. The last jigsaw for his Parisian puzzle was to find somewhere to stay. He didn't want to bring a bag to the cinema, and he also wanted to make sure that he knew he'd have somewhere to spend the night if Ruth didn't show. The possibility that all of this was just a child of his imagination was not unlikely.

He remembered that his daughter, Cathrine, had bookmarked a site for online hotel booking a few months ago. He found it in the dropdown and started searching for a room. In the end he opted for a rather posh and expensive hotel, which was located within the vicinity of both the train station and the cinema. At least he wouldn't have to stay long in Paris if Ruth didn't come to meet him. After all why would he? Paris was a place to be with a companion. He'd told her so himself.

He'd been the one who'd challenged her sense of romance when they'd finally gone out for dinner. He'd never forget the look in her eyes when he'd delivered that remark. She looked as if he'd placed daggers in her chest. He'd always regretted saying that although he thought he'd made a nice save by indirectly telling her that she was the only one who possessed the qualities he was looking for in a companion. Her response had been a brief remark, an intense stare and a frantic clutching of her serviette. God he'd felt like kissing her then, but they were in a restaurant and he couldn't change who he was and how he acted. Ever since he'd regretted not at least saying something nice or taking her hand. Back then he'd thought he would get another chance within days, but fate had it so planned out that their days working together in London were already drawing to a close. If only he had known…

He didn't sleep much after all the excitement of booking a ticket and thinking about Ruth, and what he might experience in Paris. His mind was in utter turmoil.


	3. Chapter 3

Thursday was spent in the office not doing more than he absolutely had to. Thursday night he packed a bag with enough clothes to see him through till Monday morning; he'd looked at the train times so many times he almost knew them by heart. The good thing was that he gained an hour travelling home, which meant he could stay until about 7 am and still be in the office on time. He was jumping ahead of himself and of events, he knew that, but he needed this little indulgence.

His excuse for leaving early on a Friday would be a dentist appointment, and just to make sure that he didn't get caught he'd booked time for one close to Waterloo station at 4.30 pm. That way he could ask his driver to drop him off at the station and the carry on by foot and be at the Eurostar terminal in time. The dentist would have to drill on someone else, he thought smiling to himself, because he was off to Paris.

He'd left his bag in the car and not said anything to the driver. They didn't need to know all of Harry's business, he'd decided a long time ago, when he caught one of them telling other members of his team about the dinner with Ruth. So much for having secrets as a career…

"… street, please John," Harry said as he got into the car.

"Which one, sir? The one in Kensington or the one by Waterloo Station?" his trusted driver replied without hesitation.

That guy is like a human A-Z Harry thought to himself.

"The one by Waterloo. Actually just drop me at the station entrance," Harry answered and looked at his bag. "I might as well get my ticket while I can speak. You never know what happens once they've tried to drill you teeth away." 

"You're as right as ever," John said with a smile. "Going away for the weekend?"

"Yes, I'm visiting my sister," Harry said without hesitation.

Once at the station Harry aimed straight for a coffee. He needed something to get his nerves to relax. He still had a good 30 minutes before the train left, but he had to go through check-in soon. He took his papers out and looked over them once more. John Smith, DOB 261255. There was at least another 8.800 John Smiths in the world and he'd been happy to join them when he decided on the name a few months before.

It was really second nature to him to pretend to be someone else. After all his name wasn't Harry Pearce either. After Ruth had been forced to leave, and the manner in which it had all happened, he'd decided he needed and exit strategy. He didn't know when or if he'd ever use it, but he knew he'd feel better for having the means to escape or disappear. So he created John Smith and made sure all the needed documents, credit cards etc. were made and sent to him directly.

He'd booked his trip to Paris in the name of John Smith. Not because he wasn't going to come back from it, but because he needed to know if everything worked as planned. Of course he knew it would. He'd done it so many times in the past and his officers still did it on an almost daily basis. But there was a part of him that just wanted to see if he still had it in him; to act as an agent on an assignment. Despite the fact that this particular assignment was of a somewhat personal nature.

Everything went smoothly through check-in and security. Harry was pleased to be walking along the concourse looking for his carriage. Normally he'd travel first class, because he would always travel with work, but this time he was paying himself, and he didn't feel like more than doubling the expenses. He also wanted to avoid meeting anybody familiar, and most of the people he knew who would go on the Eurostar would travel first class. So he'd opted for tourist class.


	4. Chapter 4

The train left Waterloo at exactly 1700 hours, Harry noted with some satisfaction. He had no time to waste and put it down to the fact that the service was a much a French operation as a British one. Had it been an all-British one, the train would not had left for another two hours or so, he thought.

He leaned back in his seat and stared out of the window. He had forgotten to bring a book when he packed, and at the station he'd been too preoccupied to pick up today's paper. He started rummaging through the seat pocket in front of him. He found the Eurostar Magazine and started reading it. He tried reading the articles in French, but kept cheating and looking for words in the English version. Still, his French wasn't as bad as he'd feared. After all he hadn't used it in years. He'd never been fluent, but he used to be able to keep a conversation going when he had to.

He put the magazine back and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine a smiling Ruth meeting him in Paris, but all the images that came up were of her either working on the grid or leaving him freezing on the dock in London. Would he really see her again in just a few hours?

The train came to a complete stop just before the tunnel. Harry looked out the window, but couldn't see anything unusual going on. They were probably just waiting for a green light to proceed. He looked at his watch. He didn't have many minutes to spare so he really didn't hope the train would be late. If he didn't make it to the cinema by ten maybe he would never see Ruth again. It was a something he couldn't bear to think of. He drew a silent breath of relief when the train started moving again.

At exactly 21.00 hours the Eurostar pulled into Gare du Nord in Paris. Harry had already been waiting by the doors for several minutes, and he was the first to leave the carriage and head for the exit. He'd memorised the route to the hotel; one advantage of having done so much field work over the years. He walked to the hotel in a matter of minutes and as he opened the door to his very nice room, it had only just gone a quarter past nine. He opened his bag and took out a polo T-shirt he'd bought at the Paul Smith shop in Covent Garden a few weeks earlier. He'd been shopping with his daughter and she'd tricked him into buying both something hideously expensive for herself and this T-shirt for him. She said it accentuated his new, lean look and made him look five years younger. Nobody could refuse to buy anything that would do something like that to them, could they?

Harry checked his watch again and decided to take a quick shower before getting dressed to go out. Once out of the shower he admired his own body in the mirror. He smiled to himself. He was well pleased with the result of all the hours in the gym. He just hoped Ruth would notice. If she didn't, he'd make her, he thought to himself. As he slipped on the T-shirt he was wondering if she'd ever seen him wear anything but shirts. She probably hadn't.

The Parisian evening air was pleasant, and Harry covered the few hundred yards to the cinema in no time. There weren't many people waiting at the cinema, and Harry quickly looked all of them over to see if Ruth was there. She wasn't. He got his ticket and sat down to wait. He scanned the room and the queue again just in case anybody had escaped his attention, but he couldn't see anybody who looked familiar to him. He looked at his hands. It was so important to him that Ruth showed up tonight. He wasn't sure what he'd do, if she didn't.


	5. Chapter 5

Just before ten they were let into the cinema and Harry opted for a seat in the back row. From there he could see everybody else seated and easily see anybody coming through the door. Still no sign of Ruth. He sighed. This being an art cinema he didn't have to sit through a string of commercials as he did the few times he went to the cinema in London. Instead the film opened straight away, and he looked up at the screen not sure whether to be excited or disappointed or both.

As the first few images appeared on the screen someone slipped through the doors. Harry looked to the left. It was a woman, but in the dark he decided that it wasn't Ruth. She had too short hair to be Ruth. The woman was walking down the aisle towards the front while looking at all the cinemagoers as if looking for someone. As she turned around at the front, Harry recognised the movements he'd followed so often from his office. Before he knew it, he was already standing in the middle of the aisle with his heart in his throat. He was just about to call out her name, when she stood before him. Before he could do anything she raised her lips to his and repeated that special kiss they had shared in London.

When they broke away from each other, she smiled to him and he beamed at her. He tried to speak, but no sound came over his lips. Ruth looked into his eyes, grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the doors. Still dazed by the kiss, he followed her like a puppy with no will of his own. As they came through the doors Ruth stopped and turned towards Harry. They were standing in a sort of no man's land between two sets of doors, but as opposed to the cinema, here there was a light bulb so they could see each other clearly. Harry leaned forward and placed a kiss on Ruth's lips. He was trembling. So was she, he noticed.

"Hello," he mumbled. The first word spoken between them in six months.

"Hi," she said and put her hand to his face. He kissed her palm and looked into her grey eyes. They were shinning like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"I like you hair," he said, running his fingers through it as he spoke.

"Thanks, it's quite different, isn't it?"

"It is. If you'd had this in London, I'm not sure I'd been able to keep my hands to myself on the grid," he said grinningly and started kissing her long neck. She bit his earlobe and leaned against him with her whole body.

"We can't stay here," she whispered into his ear and kissed him again.

"Come," he said and pulled her through the next set of double doors.

Once outside the cinema Harry started walking towards his hotel. Ruth stopped and looked at him.

"Where are we going?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Oh, sorry, you couldn't know of course. To my hotel. I have a very nice room just around the next corner," he said looking into her eyes.

"You're certainly not wasting any time," she laughed and looked at him. "You could have invited me out for a drink first," she continued with a cheeky smile on her face.

He looked like a teenage boy; embarrassed and excited at the same time. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…," he didn't finish the sentence, before she dragged him off.

"Just kidding. Where is it? I don't want to waste any timer either," she said with a devilish smile on her face.

"How did you manage to get the magazine to Ali," Harry asked, intrigued to know both on a personal and a professional level.

"Basic field work, my dear," she answered and didn't elaborate. "How are my cats?"

"They're fine. Missing you. How have you been?"

"Good, but missing my old life and all of you," she said and squeezed his hand.

He stopped in front of the hotel and gave her the key card.

"Room 420 and the lifts are across the lobby to the left," he said and placed a kiss on her nose. "I'll go and ask the reception something so they don't see us come in together," he finished.

She went in and he waited a few moments on the pavement before following suit. He just caught a glimpse of her before the elevator doors closed as he walked across to the reception.

"What time is breakfast served in the morning," he asked and tried to look interested in knowing the answer although breakfast was as far as possible from his train of thoughts. He hardly waited long enough to hear the answer, before mumbling "merci" and hurrying for the

lifts.

He knocked softly on the door with his heart pondering like a steam train. When she opened the door it was with a smile on her face, which he'd never seen before. After all this set-up was new to them. All the time they'd spent together, except from a few stolen moments on a quay side in London, had been with other people around them or with the mutual understanding that he was her boss, and they had to behave accordingly. Or it had been in the aftermath of their first and so far only dinner date, after which Ruth had said she didn't want to go out again. Things had been awkward between them in the time after that.


	6. Chapter 6

He slipped through the door while locking eyes with her.

"You have the most beautiful eyes. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"No, not in a long while, at least," she replied and started kissing him.

He noticed that she had taken off her coat and he slipped out off his, letting it fall to the floor.

The kiss was one of the longest Harry had ever experienced and he completely forgot about everything around him. All that mattered to him in this instant was being here with Ruth. He slipped his left hand under her blouse and started stroking the soft skin on her stomach and back. He let the right hand follow its brother and gently pushed her against the wall. He let his fingers do the walking on her body while his tongue was familiarising itself with hers. She moved her hands underneath his T-shirt and started feeling her way across his many scars. Suddenly she pulled back. Afraid that he'd one something wrong, Harry looked at her startled.

"Harry, you've slimmed down. You've lost at least a stone," she said and looked at him.

"Two as a matter of fact," he said "and it's all for you," he finished and started kissing her neck again.

"But, why? How? You couldn't know I'd get back in contact?" she continued.

"No, but the hope kept me going. Besides, I needed to loose weight, so I started going to the gym," he said.

She immediately moved her hands from his back to his stomach and started feeling her way across those well-trained muscles. He flexed them a bit, maybe a lot, and she was clearly very impressed with what she felt. She continued her examination on his arms and he resisted the temptation to flex them too.

Instead he looked her in the eyes and said: "Happy?"

"Ecstatic," she said and started pulling off his T-shirt to get a better look and feel.

He started undoing her blouse and bra and soon he had her bare breasts in front of him. So well formed; not too small neither too big. But bigger than he had imagined. She'd always hid them under her clothes, and he'd never had a chance to see exactly what size to expect. Not that size mattered to him, but he felt they had a fantastic feel to them as he'd lifted them out of the brassiere.

She was busy opening his belt and trousers and he could feel them slide down his legs. He kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his trousers. Now only wearing socks and boxers. She, for her part, was more or less still fully clothed. He looked at her.

"This is not fair. You're way ahead of me."

He lifted her off the thick carpet and carried her to the bed where he put her down. He then leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

"I think I have some catching up to do here," he said smiling.

He moved back and started taking her boots off. He then gently removed her stockings and started kissing her feet taking his time to move up her calf to her inner thigh. He had his head buried under her skirt and he could feel her trying to undo the buttons on the back. She started removing it and he gladly assisted her. He then moved back to her left leg and started kissing that from foot to thigh as well. Once at her thigh again he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her face towards him.

"Having a good time?" he asked.

"Mmmm," was all she managed to get across her lips, too lost in the moment to find words.

He pulled off her knickers and went down on her. After a while he broke off and started kissing her breasts, taking first one and then the other nipple in his mouth and biting them gently. He could feel her whole body receiving his caresses.

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I think it's my time to catch up," she said and pushed him to one side.

He happily let his body fall onto the bed next to hers as she got up and positioned herself with one leg on each side of his hips. He could feel the warmth of her body on his. She leaned forward and bit his earlobe, putting her tongue into his ear while her hands were all over his torso. She was playing with his nipples, pinching them but only in a playful way. She started kissing his chest and stomach and moved her body further down his legs until her tongue reached the area just above his crotch. Her hands were feeling his thighs and he was completely lost in ecstacy. She started removing his boxers and he helped her by lifting his body off the cover. She took him in her mouth, and he was beside himself with excitement.

After a while he reached out for her and made let go of him and dragged her forward to kiss him on the lips. He then gently made her lie on her back again and as he couldn't restrain himself anymore he entered her. Ruth was completely lost in Harry's eyes and could both feel him inside her and follow everything through his eyes. She lifted her legs and crossed them behind his strong, well-trained back to draw him even closer to her. It was a short, but fantastic experience and they both reached climax within seconds of each other.

Once it was over, Harry didn't move, though, and Ruth loved him even more for that. He could stay there forever for all she cared. She opened her eyes only to find Harry's inches from hers, glowing in a way that could lit an entire city.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hello," he said. "Are you ok?" he asked, looking at her with a funny expression on his face.

"I've never been better," she said, meaning every word of it. "Don't move," she said.

"I can't," he said and smiled.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Your legs," he said.

"Right," she said smilingly and loosened her legs.

Somehow Ruth must have dozed off and when she came to herself Harry was lying next to her with a happy smile on his face.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't thank me," she said. "After all you did most of the work," she replied with a cheeky smile leaning over to kiss him.

"No, I mean for setting this up," he said. "I never thought I should feel anything like this again. Especially not after seeing you off that morning."

"I know. It was horrible. You looked so small on that dock. I felt physically ill. I immediately decided to find a way to see you again. And before the boat had left British territory, I had this plan all worked out."

"Even this last bit?" he asked grinningly.

"No, this bit," she said and pushed him onto his back and positioned herself on top of him.


	7. Chapter 7

When Ruth woke it was already light outside and she looked around the room to find out where she was. She immediately remembered everything and looked around for Harry. He was lying next to her breathing quietly and sleeping with his mouth open. She leaned over and kissed him on his forehead before getting out of bed to go to the toilet. When she came back he was awake.

"Good morning," she said and got into bed next to him and started kissing him.

A few minutes later he broke off and said: "And a good morning to you too." He drew her closer and held her in a tight embrace.

"I love you," he said and looked into her eyes.

"I love you too," she said and sighed. "I never thought we'd be able to do this, you know."

"I know. Neither did I. But I'm thrilled we did."

"Me too. But what happens now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is this a new beginning or a new end?"

Since starting to think of setting up a meeting with Harry there was one thing that had made her want to scrap her plans many times. When leaving Harry and her life in London behind, Ruth had taken a long time to recover. It was hard to set up a new life in a new country and city, but she managed and kept herself busy with practicalities the first few months. She managed so well that the pain of saying goodbye to Harry diminished, and she realised that going ahead with a rendez-vous in Paris could be a set-back. Especially if it could only be a one-off thing. So the one question she was dying to know the answer to, but couldn't get herself to ask, because she was terrified of the answer, was if they could see each other again.

"A new beginning, I hope. I'm not sure I could stand saying goodbye to you again," he said and kissed her intensely.

She broke away from him and looked into his eyes. She loved looking into them and couldn't get herself to look away.

"What are you saying?" she asked and held back her breath.

"I'm saying that if you want my opinion we need to find a way of continuing to see each other. Without it compromising either of us, of course."

"Really," she said "do you think we can pull that off?"

"If anybody can, it must be us," he said and tightened his grip on her body.

"I suppose you're right, but how will we do it?" she asked with her heart in her throat.

"Well, first of all I have an open return with the Eurostar, so I don't have to return to London till Monday morning. That leaves us a good two days to find out what to do."

"Oh Harry, you're the best," she said and kissed him intensely.

Later that Saturday they were strolling side by side in Le jardin des Tuileries when Harry took up the subject from earlier on. By now Ruth had told most of her story and explained her set-up in Paris, which did open up some possibilities, Harry had to amid.

Ruth had initially stayed in a small B&B, but after a few weeks she'd found a flat of her own. She had been able to get by without working for a while, because of some cash that Adam had given her before she left. Harry shouldn't really hear this, but he was pleased to know that his second in command had behaved in a manner he personally if not professionally could approve of.

The flat Ruth had found was fantastic. Due to sheer luck she'd managed to find a flat with a very low rent, because she had to look after another flat in an adjacent building. It was a Swedish couple who had advertised the flat on an international web site called and they wanted someone who spoke English, because some of their friends, who'd be coming to Paris to stay in the extra flat. And most of them didn't speak any French.

They had liked Ruth immediately and felt confident that she'd look after their property in a proper manner. Ruth had smiled to herself and thought that they should just know how she'd used to look after the security of Britain.

So Ruth's living conditions were excellent. She had a very nice flat of her own for which she paid less than market price, and then she also had a set of keys to a flat in another building across the yard from her. She had showed all of this to Harry this morning, and he had nodded approvingly. He could see how this could actually work, but he hadn't said anything at the time. He now happily opened the discussion again, however.

"Do you want to hear how I see this?" he asked, deliberately teasing her by not being too specific.

"What do you mean?" she asked and looked at him with a hopeful mind.

"The plan," he said and looked around. There weren't many people out and definitely not anybody who could have any interest in what he was about to say. His reaction just reminded him that old habits die hard.

She looked at him with great anticipation.

"I come back in a few weeks time and book myself into a hotel. I travel as Harry Pearce telling everybody that I want to spend a weekend in Paris to go to museums. Between now and then you find woman who can play the role of bait for me. Can you do that?" he asked. She nodded and before she could ask any questions, he continued.

"You'll instruct her to make contact with me and I'll be very open to her," he said and squeezed her hand.

"I'll pretend to get along really well with her and when I get back to London, I'll tell everybody that I've met someone really interesting in Paris, and that I'll probably go back soon. I'll make sure I go and see Juliet and tell her all about my new found love."

"Why Juliet?" Ruth demanded to know. The sheer thought of Juliet and Harry talking together made Ruth's mind turn green with jealousy.

"You see, the reason we're here now is really down to Juliet," he said and smiled. "If she hadn't been so nosey I'd never have had the nerve to ask you out for dinner."

Ruth looked at him with great surprise. "How's that?"

"Well, after Juliet was crippled I went to see her in hospital. You came to pick me up and knocked on the window. Remember?"

Ruth nodded. She remembered picking Harry up and being glad to take him away from Juliet's sick bed. She was afraid Juliet being crippled would soften Harry.

"As always Juliet went for the throat and referred to you as 'my spaniola'. I answered something back that defended you and offended her."

Ruth smiled to herself. She could easily imagine Harry and Juliet fighting such a war of wits. She'd witnessed it enough times in the office to know how they spoke to each other.

"After I'd offended her," Harry continued, "she looked at me and asked me if I was in love with you."

Ruth raised her eyebrows and stopped walking.

"And what did you answer?"

"I tried to avoid answering, but she was very persistent in getting a reaction from me. So I said something about you having many wonderful qualities, but she wasn't going to let it go. Instead she told me directly that you were in love with me, and she encouraged me to do something about it."

Ruth looked at Harry with a puzzled look on her face. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. That 'The Witch of Whitehall' had helped her in her pursuit for Harry.

"Why did she say all that?" Ruth asked Harry.

"I don't know. Maybe being crippled had softened her. Albeit only for a short while. She's as unbearable now as she ever was. Make no mistake about that," Harry explained.

"So in the end you asked me out, because Juliet had encouraged you to do so," Ruth asked and looked Harry in the eyes.

"Well, yes. But I really wanted to, you know. Juliet just made me realise that I couldn't continue not doing anything about it. You know for someone like me, things to do with love and relationships are not easy to handle. As confident as I navigate professionally, as confused do I get when treading the unknown emotional waters."

Ruth looked at him with great emotion her eyes. She leaned forward and placed a prolonged kissed on his lips. As she broke off the kiss a tear ran down her cheek.

"Anyway, I'm glad she said it, and I think she can still play a role," he said.

"How?" Ruth demanded to know, feeling a bit uneasy about Juliet being mentioned so many times by Harry. After all Harry and Juliet were known to have had a brief but hot affair years ago. She reminded herself that Juliet was now crippled and that her relationship with Harry had only had a professional character for years.

"If I am to spend more time in Paris in the future I'll both need an excuse, but I'll also need to know when they send someone to check on me."

"You think they'll do that?" Ruth asked.

"Ruth, think of my position. If I start spending a lot of time abroad it's due to raise eyebrows and if there's something we don't want, it's 5 or 6 on our tails. Agree?"

She nodded and sat down on a bench standing next to them. He sat besides her and put his arm around her and drew her closer.

"So how can Juliet help?" Ruth wanted to know.

"I'll let Juliet know what's going - that it's you I'm seeing when I go to Paris, and if she approved of it in London while we were working together, she'll probably not object now. Also it would be handy for me to have an ally like her, as incidents are due to happen now and again when I'm here with you. Juliet will then be able to get a hold of me if an emergency arises. Moreover, I'll ask her to let me know when I should expect company. That way you and I will know when to stay away from each other, and you should send this other woman instead. D'accord?" he asked and looked at her.

Ruth broke their gaze and looked across the park towards l'Orangerie.

"Very good, Mr. Pearce, I must say you have solved this little task very well. I can't see any loose ends. Can you?"

"Not at the moment, but we shouldn't get complacent. Let's keep thinking about it over the weekend and maybe we'll stumble across something," Harry rounded off with a smile.

"Come on let's go. We still have enough time on our hands to do some people watching."


End file.
